Grove City Messenger - March 7th, 2021

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In Education
March 7, 2021 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - PAGE 5
New initiative to enhance diversity introduced in SWCS
By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
In the wake of nationwide protests on
racism and racial justice last summer, the
South-Western City Schools board of education
issued a directive that challenged
the district to do more to address any
inequalities or disparities that may exist in
its buildings. Now, those directives are
beginning to take shape.
At its meeting on Feb. 22,
Superintendent Dr. Bill Wise presented the
board with an update on a number of new
initiatives that would enhance diversity,
equity, and inclusivity for its students,
staff, and the community at large.
According to Wise, there were four committees
established that were dedicated to
working on these topics for the past year,
three of which were new to the district and
one that was active prior to the directive.
The overarching mission of these committees,
he said, was to focus on “the what
and the how of creating a more accepting
culture that nurtures a sense of belonging
for our students while demanding high
expectations for all.”
“It has been difficult work but also very
rewarding,” he said.
Wise was on the district-wide work
group, which was also comprised of a member
of the board, district staff, several students,
and other members of the community
who are in leadership roles.
The district-wide work group, he said,
was tasked with pouring over data to
uncover if and how poverty and race correlated
with underachievement in the district
and how their findings compare to
those same trends nationally.
“We discovered that it is not as pronounced
in this district (in comparison to
others),” he said, “but it still exists here
and we need to do more to improve.”
The other committees were the
Inclusion Institute, where educators and
administrators were given ways to reflect
on, establish, and reinforce equity practices
among school staff that allows students to
achieve to the best of their ability; the Ohio
State University Task Force which provided
training and support for adults on
implicit and institutional bias; and the
Social Emotional Learning Standards
Implementation Committee. The latter was
already an active committee in the district.
They are currently wrapping up a districtwide
survey for students and staff that will
give district officials a sense of “how they
feel about themselves within our organization.”
“It’s a very culture and climate focused
survey,” Wise said of the Panorama survey.
“The data will really give us a good sense of
how our students and staff feel they fit in
with our organization and in turn that will
provide us with ways to meet their needs if
they are not feeling fulfilled.”
While the four committees had different
tasks, the one thing they had in common
was the variety of ideas on how to enhance
diversity, equity, and inclusion within the
district.
The first initiative will task each individual
school to come up with goals to
address disparities or inequalities within
their Continuous Improvement Plan.
These goals and their efforts will be monitored
by those on the district-wide work
group, which will now serve as an oversight
committee. Staff members will also be mentored
by those who were involved on the
working committees through the sharing of
information and resources.
Other initiatives will include the continuation
of partnerships with organizations
that help reduce nonacademic barriers, the
addition of more reading material that feature
protagonists of color or explore the
experiences of people of color, and
increased recruitment efforts to “better
reflect our student population.”
Wise said that while the district will
begin to recruit at six additional historical
black colleges and universities, he does not
foresee a great expanse of diversity in the
teaching force anytime soon.
“To be candid, this is extremely difficult
when the (local candidate) pool is so limited,”
he said.
According to data from the Ohio
Department of Education, the population of
educators of color is disproportionately low
in comparison to the state’s students of
color. In the 2016-2017 school year, only
5,570 teachers of color were employed in
Ohio’s district, making up only 5 percent of
the teaching staff. Those numbers are even
lower in regard to people of color enrolled
in teacher preparation programs, with nonwhite
people compromising of only 1,777
enrolled in 2017.
Wise said the diversity, equity and
inclusion initiative implementation is
ongoing and not all initiatives may come to
fruition. However, he said he believes the
district is doing the right thing by shaping
new goals to create a stronger and more
inclusive learning environment.
“Even if we never achieve our goals, we
think that it is important to make our goals
aspirational and bold as we strive to make
a difference.”
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